What School Fails to Teach You

What School Fails to Teach You

Life can be tough for some conservatives on campus.

By Corine Gatti

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When kids are ready for college, they are pretty naive and when they leave the campus behind, some of them still don't have a clue what the world is like. For kids who are Christian or who hold conservative values, it can be devastating as more colleges and universities are showing blatant unfairness. The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) discussed a case of a student named Brandon Jenkins, who was denied admission to a radiation therapy program after answering the question: "What is the most important thing in your life?" He answered, "God." Later he was told by the program director: “I understand that religion is a major part of your life. However, this field is not the place for religion. If you interview in the future, you may want to leave your thoughts and beliefs out of the interview process."

The reason we bring this particular case up is that Jenkins received a crash course in the way life can be, something that many colleges don't teach. If they do, it's according to the worldview of those leaning left. For the rest of the students, they are living in a fairy tale that life lacks conflict, everyone needs to agree and everyone receives hugs. Maybe in Utopia, but that is not the real world. The kids today are not being taught life skills in addition to their academics. Here are additional things that school does not teach.

They fail to teach tolerance.

As mentioned with the Jenkins case, many colleges preach unity, but this doesn't really apply to everyone. As parents, you want your children to accept all people regardless of gender, status, race or political differences. However, we've seen colleges like the University of California, Berkeley cancel speaking engagements because of pressure from students and faculty, who don't agree with conservative views of the speaker. We are sure there are cases of intolerance at Christian schools on some level. Being more tolerant of other people of diverse backgrounds and culture is necessary to be successful in life.

They fail to teach about the expression of thought.

Well, schools encourage some expression of thought, but only to a select few. In New England, liberal professors outnumber conservatives 28 to 1, according to Chris Sweeney, a reporter at bostonmagazine.com and conservatism has become a dirty word. "Depending on who you ask, it can range from white nationalists espousing hate to moderates such as Governor Charlie Baker. At many of New England’s most prestigious colleges, political conservatism has been reduced to stereotypes." Kids are afraid to offend their liberal professors for expected backlash. The story also accorded that professors are afraid to acknowledge that they are conservative, due to being ostracized. Wow, what does this teach young adults?

They fail to teach kids to grow up.

All of us at some time in our lives experienced the sentiment of entitlement, it's human nature. However, if you ever had the pleasure of meeting some of the kids looking to get into the workforce, they want to start at the top. School's fail to teach young adults that just because they have a degree, it doesn't mean it's a key in getting out of earning a position. Nothing is given to people and with the safe rooms for kids at college, we will assume it will become worse. For example, a professor at Yale University decided to let students skip their midterms because of the general the election results. According to reports, the professor shared: "These students are requesting that the exam is postponed. On the other hand, I am sure that many students have sacrificed to prepare for the test. Therefore, I am making the exam optional.” Safe rooms and optional exams? Coddling young adults will only lead to coddled adults when they enter the workforce.

They fail to teach communication skills.

The younger generation is more in tuned with texting, social media and email. There is nothing wrong with these tools, but it won't teach interpersonal skills, negotiation skills or how to express thoughts in a professional manner. There are repercussions that an individual can experience when they do not communicate, such as knowing how to network with others. "Networking, in a nutshell, is meeting new people in a professional context, forging a connection, building those relationships over time and providing value to each other," Forbes reported.

They fail to teach coping skills.

Coping skills are often not taught at home or at school. Coping skills are methods a person uses to deal with stressful situations. Mental Health Wellness explained that "Obtaining and maintaining good coping skills does take practice. However utilizing these skills becomes easier over time. Most importantly, good coping skills make for good mental health wellness." This could be the reason that so many young adults can't handle the stress of disappointment. They're emotionally fragile, may become depressed, lose focus and can't deal with life.

They fail to foster curiosity.

Learning needs to become a constant evolution. But people take things at face value and don't find the answers on their own. Kids need to research for themselves on the issues of the day. No matter what their beliefs are, they need to seek out the truth for themselves. They need to know that going with the crowd is not always the answer.

We should esteem education as it is intended to help us grow as individuals and prepare us for our careers. However, this is not always the case. We are seeing education institutions playing politics and not allowing kids to grow up. You can't fault colleges entirely as the foundation for growth starts at home. Life is a schoolhouse and it is far better than a classroom, which will teach students to explore their own thoughts, not what the college is pushing on them.